The present invention relates to apparatus for practicing marine aquaculture, and more particularly to a submersible enclosure for raising and maintaining a wide variety of marine life such as fish.
Aquaculture is part of a growing trend in the United States and elsewhere to grow fish for the purposes of restocking and replenishing dwindling fish species, and also for the purposes of food. Basically, the process of inducing species to spawn and grow outside the wild is known as aquaculture. Although aquaculture or fish farming was practiced as early as 2000 BC in China, it was not until the early 1870's that this industry came to the United States. The aquaculture industry has exhibited significant growth, particularly over the last 20 years, and it continues to accelerate. Moreover, in the United States, aquaculture is considered one of the fastest growing segments of livestock raising.
Prior to the present invention, numerous off-shore enclosures have been proposed for the purpose of raising marine life, particularly fish. For the most part these heretofore enclosures comprise pens, cages, and netting, and the interior of the enclosure is simply a large open space.